Kukla's Korner Hockey

Entries with the tag: sarah palin

With the two Alexes – Ovechkin and Semin – leading the charge, the Washington Capitals might be the greatest show on the ice right now, the heir apparent to the swashbuckling Edmonton Oilers of the mid-1980s. If that’s the case, then defenceman Mike Green is the 21st-century equivalent of Paul Coffey in style and approach – one of half-a-dozen promising young rearguards who will get a long look from the management staff of Canada’s 2010 Olympic team. Green plays a high-risk, high-reward style. Most nights, he is a defenceman in name only and plays almost as a fourth forward.

This is done with the permission of his coach Bruce Boudreau who, since taking over the reins of the Capitals last December, loosened them considerably on all of his young players. Now, instead of making a defensive choice on a 50-50 puck battle, they have permission to err on the offensive side. Some nights, it backfires, but on balance, it generally works.

St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced today that forward D.J. King will undergo season ending shoulder surgery. King injured his shoulder in the Blues’ 6-1 win over Dallas on Oct. 16.

Update 6:47pm: Also from the Blues today, a note that they intend to wade into the same political quagmire that Philly just finished with. From the Blues’ press release—

Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and candidate for Vice President of the United States of America, will be the guest of the St. Louis Blues on Friday, Oct. 24, when she will drop a ceremonial pregame “first puck” prior to the Blues’ game vs. the visiting Los Angeles Kings.

Palin today confirmed that she will make the stop at Scottrade Center in St. Louis following a previous visit to Springfield, Mo., during her campaign trail in the state of Missouri.

The league agrees with Team Palin. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly issued this statement: “We do not view the Flyers’ invitation to Governor Palin to be politically motivated. Governor Palin is a supporter of the sport, which she has proclaimed publicly. As a public figure who has a very public connection with hockey, her recent associations with the Flyers and other NHL franchises is not surprising and, in our view, not inappropriate. Participation of national politicians in team ceremonies in professional sports is far from unprecedented in our sport and occurs routinely in other sports, as well.”

When Palin drops the puck, there inevitably will be photos taken of the Ranger and Flyer participating in the ceremonial draw. When circulated throughout the Internet, these photos are likely to imply endorsement. If the Governor of Alaska is presented with a Flyers’ jersey—or appears wearing one—it will represent the implied endorsement of the NHL team.

Snider’s Comcast may own the Flyers, but he, like all NHL owners, are merely leasing their teams and their teams’ trademarks from the league. The Flyers logo and the Rangers logo are property of the NHL. Snider has no right to use these teams and these players as props to further his own political agenda.

The Flyers’ colors have historically been orange and black. The owner is now attempting to use this storied franchise in order to turn his home state red.

(Philadelphia, PA – October 8, 2008) Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the nation’s most popular hockey mom, will join the winner of the Philadelphia Flyers regional search for the “Ultimate Hockey Mom” contest and drop the puck at the ceremonial opening face-off as the home team Flyers host the New York Rangers at the Wachovia Center on Saturday, October 11 at 7 p.m.

“Because of the tremendous amount of publicity she has brought to our sport, we invited the most popular hockey mom in North America to our home opener to help us get our season started,” said Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider who founded the Flyers in 1967. “We are very excited she has accepted our offer and we are very proud of the publicity she is generating for hockey moms and the sport of hockey.”

“The idea of possibly having a hockey mom in the White House just blows my mind.”

Those are the words of Dayton Bombers owner Costa Papista, with whom I just spoke after watching a CNN shot of him presenting Bombers jerseys to both John McCain and VP candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a self-described “hockey mom”, after the GOP rally at Nutter Center—-where the ECHL Bombers play.

More on the hockey-mom-as-powerbroker can also be read at Puck Daddy today. As Greg says, “Soccer moms are sooooooooo 1996.”